The Journal of Janice Smith
by Heartsky
Summary: An English project I did on The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. It's some journal entries by Janice about the events on Mars.
1. January 10, 2030

**January 10, 2030**

I've never been very good about keeping a journal, but when my best friend, Leonora, gave me this one for Christmas, I figured I should at least write and entry once in a while, when something exciting happens in my life. My mother's been dead since I was three, so Leonora's the closest thing I have to a mother, although she's more like an older sister. We're both in our senior year of high school, but she's almost an entire year older than me. No, she didn't get held back or anything, she waited a year to start school. Wasn't as eager about school as some kids. She showed some foresight in _that_ area, haha.

I can't wait to be done with school. I've grown to like it less and less all the time. When can I finally do what I want to, instead of listening to my teachers or my dad? Thank heavens I graduate at the end of the year.

I read something interesting in the news the other day: they're launching the first manned mission to Mars. The rocket's being launched from somewhere in Ohio. It's hard to believe it's really happening, after all those years of sending rovers and the shutdown of the NASAspace shuttle program, it seemed like this day would never come. Well, it doesn't affect me much; I have no desire to go to Mars. I'm staying right here on good old Earth. I'll graduate and get my own place and get a job and maybe get married and become a mom. A simple life. A life where I can live comfortably, and free.

Although…I think that in a way, I understand why some people want to go to Mars. They want to be free and independent like I do, except they want it…on a larger scale than I do.

Fly away to Mars, rocket. Free the people from their cages so they can soar, like the birds.


	2. August 28, 2030

**August 28, 2030**

I take it back! I take back what I said about not wanting dad to boss me around! I wouldn't mind living with him for the rest of my life!

I'm being stupid, it's too late for that now. He's gone.

My father died yesterday. My father who was always patient with me. My father, whose violet eyes would twinkle when he laughed…and he never complained about having to raise me on his own.

He was driving to work like he does every day. The woman in the car behind him was on her way to a date or something decided her hair wasn't quite right, so she took her eyes off the road to adjust her hair in the mirror. Just a few seconds, but that was enough. My dad slowed down, so he could make a turn. The woman didn't notice. She charged right into his car and now they are both dead. It was such a stupid, mindless reason to die. I hope that what happened because of that idiot makes people realize how dangerous stuff like that is.

So my dad's dead, just like the people who went to Mars. The first mission went missing, they are probably dead. A second mission was sent. They landed earlier this month. But we stopped receiving transmissions from them a few days later. The last one we received was a message that they were in a Martian insane asylum. How that happened, I don't know. It's pretty frightening. Many people believe they are dead. It's not a sure thing, but…I think it's probably true. At least my dad died on Earth. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if he had died all the way on another planet. Being so far apart from him at his death would drive me over the edge.

Leonora offered to let me live with her. I accepted her offer, because I don't think I can function well enough to live alone for now. All I can think about is dad's death.

Funny thing: when we were at the hospital where my dad was being treated, the man who came to inform us of what had happened was crying. Apparently he had just started working there, so he wasn't used to seeing patients lost. He was around me and Leonora's age, maybe a little older. His name was Will. He seemed very sweet and sensitive, although it was a bit strange that _Leonora_ was the one trying to comfort _him_. Ah well, I suppose with time he'll learn to be strong in the face of events like this.

I don't think I ever will, though.


	3. May 3, 2032

**May 3, 2032**

It appears that the fourth mission to Mars was successful. The third one ended up like the first two, vanishing not long after landing. But the newspapers say that this time is different. The men that were sent up there have been there for two weeks now. They haven't seen hide nor hair of a living Martian, but they found some abandoned cities filled with the bodies of Martians. Apparently they died from chicken pox. Chicken Pox! It had a far worse effect on them than it did on humans. The other missions must have made it to Mars, then. It's sad, really. A whole civilization wiped out by a disease like chicken pox.

That's not to say the astronauts didn't run into problems, though. Seven of the twenty-two men who landed there are dead. One of the men turned on the crew and shot six of them. Then the captain shot him. His name was Spender. The paper says he was a lunatic, muttering nonsense about being a Martian. I don't entirely believe he was crazy, though. He was probably afraid that we would do the same thing to the Martians that our ancestors did to the Native Americans so long ago: steal their land from them, kill them if they resist, and change their land to suit our own wants and needs. Doesn't anyone else remember those old movies, _Pocahontas_ and _Avatar_ and _Spirit_? I thought we had learned something from stories like those, we had gained an appreciation and respect for other cultures, but perhaps I'm wrong. I don't think Spender should have killed the other men, but I think I understand why he did.

So that's what's happening on Mars. As for my life, it's been pretty quiet since I last wrote. After I managed to recover from the sorrow of dad's death, I got a job running the cash register at one of the clothing stores in town. It's not the most glamorous job, but it pays the rent. There was a time I had hoped to be a ballet dancer, but I started dancing too late to be a professional, so it never really panned out. Oh, well, c'est la vie, that's life. When I have a day off me and Leonora will hang out in various places around town. Will, the young doctor we met, often joins us. We've all become pretty good friends.. I feel a little nervous and fluttery around him, though. I'm not quite sure why. I don't usually get nervous around boys. Strange.


	4. December 16, 2032

**December 16, 2032**

I think today may have been one of the most wonderful days of my life. You see…wait, I'll leave that till the end. First I'll tell you about Mars.

There's another news story I read about Mars that I have to tell you about. As children, we all heard the story of Johnny Appleseed, who walked across America planting apple seeds. Well, it sounds as if a man named Benjamin Driscoll is attempting to become the Johnny Appleseed of Mars. He's walking around Mars, planting all sorts of trees and plants. But get this! After it rained and he finally decided to look back at what he had planted, he didn't see little sprouts, but full grown trees! The Martian soil is apparently very fertile, more than any soil we've ever had on earth. I wouldn't have imagined such a thing was possible. That's the funny thing about us humans, we say trees and plants are a nuisance, that we want to chop them all down, but when a time comes when we find there are no plants around us, suddenly we want them. And not just on Mars. It happens on Earth, too. When winter comes, and all the plants either die or go to sleep, we miss them, and we find ways to keep some alive even then. We create little environments for them, like greenhouses. And that's where my tale comes in.

It's December now, so the winter snow has put all the vegetation to sleep. Well, Leonora and me and Will were talking about how much we missed all the plants. So we decided that since I had the day off and neither Will nor Leonora had work today, we would go visit a greenhouse.

It was simply divine. All the colors and fragrances filled up my eyes and lungs and I felt the most alive I had felt since dad died. It was like I was rediscovering why life was wonderful, why spring was and always has been my favorite season.

Well, in the midst of all my amazement and joy, Leonora slipped away from our little group, giving Will a sly look. His face reddened a little. I was thoroughly confused, but I didn't say anything about their odd exchange.

We continued walking for a while, saying how nice this flower smelled or how unusual that fern looked. I could sense Will beginning to be more relaxed again. I was on the verge of asking Will where in the world Leonora had gotten to when he suddenly stopped walking and turned to face me.

"Janice," he started, his voice wavering a little. "I-I have something for you." He held out a small bouquet of flowers, which I immediately recognized to be violets. Violets are my favorite flowers. They are a beautiful, deep purple flower, dark and intense. I also like them because they represent faithfulness, something I've always felt was important, in any relationship: family, friend, or more.

I gasped when he presented the violets to me. How had he known they were my favorite? I had probably mentioned it offhandedly at some point, but I certainly hadn't expected him to remember. I was so surprised and happy. I smiled and told him thank you and looked at him, with his pale-blonde, wheat-colored hair and blue-gray eyes like two raindrops caught in his face. And suddenly, I realized that like the trees on Mars, something had been growing deep inside me for a long time. And just as Benjamin Driscoll was stunned when he saw how much his trees had grown, I was startled by how much this feeling had grown in my heart without my even realizing it. I was in love with Will.

It hadn't been sudden or immediate or quick. I'm not even sure when it started, when the seed was planted. But it had grown slowly, steadily, since. Only just now had I realized it.

And then he kissed me.


	5. October 5, 2033

**October 5, 2033**

...and now he's gone.

Gone, across millions of miles of thick, black, space, so dark you can scarcely breathe.

Yesterday, Will left on a rocket for Mars.

The reason why? Well, more and more people have gone off to Mars, enough so that small towns have been forming. But no doctors have made the journey. None of them want to leave a steady job here for one on Mars which would be unpredictable and dangerous. Heck, there's no real law enforcement up there. People can shoot other people and not get caught, for heaven's sake. Besides, who wants to uproot their family, not just from their city or country, but from their planet?

The fact that there weren't any doctors up there really bothered Will. He decided it was his duty to go up there. After all, he doesn't have a family to uproot. Sure, he's got me, but we're not married. We don't have our own house. We don't have children.

At first I was angry at him. I screamed at him and asked him how he could leave me like this, and for who? For a bunch of drunk, murderous, adulterous pigs! I know I shouldn't say things like that. No one is perfect, and everyone deserves second chances. Chances that Will might be able to give them when things look bleak.

For a while, he really seemed to be considering staying. But after I had calmed down and thought about it, I realized that making him stay wouldn't make me happy. Going to Mars was something he felt was his duty, his calling. If he stayed here, he would always wonder, "What if?", always worry that his absence from Mars meant lives lost, second chances people didn't receive. And if Will would be unhappy, so would I. So I told him to go. I told him he HAD to.

He told me he loved me, and if I wanted to stay and marry someone else, he would understand.

But he promised that he would always wait for me. If I never came to Mars, he would marry no one.

I love Will. I want to follow him. But I'm not sure if I'll be able to summon the courage. The idea of crossing the empty, dark void between here and Mars frightens me. It makes my very soul shiver.

But even if I do stay, of course I won't marry anyone else. The violet is my favorite flower, after all.


	6. November 8, 2033

**November 8, 2033**

It's only been a month since he left, but it feels like a lifetime. I've been thinking about it constantly, this terrible choice I must make. I miss Will more than I've ever missed anyone, except maybe father. But making the huge leap of faith to get on a rocket and fly off to Mars is hard to think about. I've been scared of the dark since I was quite young. I was locked in a cellar once, and it was one of the loneliest and most frightening experiences I've ever had. I just don't know what I'm going to do.

I've been staying up to date with the goings-on of Mars, and one story in particular caught my attention. Apparently, a group of priests on Mars found these glowing bright spheres in the hills. They seem to be alive. They saved one of the minister's lives three times. Then the globe spoke to the priests and told them not to worry about converting them, they lived in a state of God's grace. They are like blue ghosts of some sort. Somehow, this makes me feel less afraid, these blue lights, assuring me of God's presence everywhere. And the priests reassure me. They work for the same cause as Will does, to give the people up there a second chance, to help them get their lives straightened out.

It made me realize that in a way, I've been connected to Mars this whole time. I could relate to the people and events on Mars, the desire of the colonists to be free; mourning the colonists' death; Spender's frustration with people's lack of respect for Martians; Benjamin Driscoll's need for plant life. And now the man I love is up there.

I have this feeling that I'm meant to go there, I have been all along. I'm not sure when or how, but I know I'll get there somehow, when I'm ready.


	7. May 17, 2034

**May 17, 2034 **

I'm sitting here in bed, watching the sun rise, the last sunrise on Earth I will ever see. Yes, I've finally made my decision. I'm going to Mars.

I had been thinking about it this whole time, but what finally pushed me to decide once and for all that I was going was a note from Will that came on a rocket from Mars 3 days ago. The note said, "Dear Janice; This is _our_ house if you decide to come to Mars. Will." There was a picture of the house he had been building. But get this: it looked exactly like the house Janice and I have been living in for the past few years! Suddenly, I knew I wanted to be with Will more than I wanted to stay on Earth.

Leonora's coming as well. Will and I are the closest people she has to a family, so she wants to come with us. She has some distant relatives, but they are not like a real family.

Last night was rough for me. The fact that we really were leaving had finally sunk in, so I was very emotional. Leonora suggested we go and get some chocolate malts. She wanted to cheer me up, but all I could think about was that I probably wouldn't be able to have another chocolate malt for a long, long time. We rented these newfangled jackets that let you fly up into the air. We flew over town to say goodbye to all our favorite haunts. I broke down several times that night. I even screamed once, although no noise came out of my mouth. It was a silent scream, a very strange sensation. But Leonora always managed to calm me down, to soothe me. I really am very lucky to have her as a friend.

Later in the night, around midnight, I waited at the phone for The Call. I had arranged for a call to Mars so I could speak to Will. This was the first time I had been able to call him since he left, phoning that far away is very expensive. When the time came, I talked quickly and told Will that I was coming. I only had a minute to speak, then I would wait for Will's response, then the call would be over. That's when the best part of the day happened.

Somehow, most of Will's response got lost, the signal being thrown out somewhere in space. But one word managed to get through, to reach me. And that word was "love".

And that was all I needed to hear.

Leonora tried to get me to tell her what he had said, but it was just too good a secret to tell. But I know she saw how my face was glowing afterward, so she knows it was something good.

And now, in the light of my last sunrise on Earth, I'm not afraid. I feel I could go all the way to Pluto just to see Will again. Goodbye, Earth. I will miss you. But I will make do without you.


End file.
